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Architecture Firms

AI can generate a building design. It cannot tell a client what to build.

Productize a 48-hour feasibility on top of TestFit and Forma. AI permit review is live in LA, Austin, and Seattle.

The pressure architecture firms are facing right now.

50%

is the drop in small-firm billings between 2015 and 2023.

AIA Firm Survey 2024

40%

of an architectural fee goes to construction documents, the most automatable phase.

AIA

38

straight months architecture billings have fallen, the longest downturn since 2008.

AIA / Deltek ABI

What firms like yours are designing in the Workshop.

Most firms feel the itch and start experimenting: a few tools, a pilot, a project that looked promising on paper. The expensive version is finding out a year in that clients won’t pay for it. Whether you’re still deciding where to start or already two pilots in, the Workshop narrows what you take to your clients before you commit more budget to building it.

Every engagement is different. Your team’s domain expertise is the input. These are the kinds of offerings architecture firms leave with, specified and priced. Your team tests them with named clients, then builds what earns it.

Questions

The AIA Architecture Billings Index has been below 50 in 34 of 38 months since October 2022, the longest sustained downturn since 2008. Small firm billings fell 50% between 2015 and 2023 (AIA Firm Survey 2024). Construction documents are 40% of fees and the most automatable phase of the work.

A 48-hour feasibility on top of TestFit and Forma. Pre-design strategy and programming sold separately from design. Post-occupancy evaluation as a recurring subscription on completed projects. AI permit review is live in LA, Austin, and Seattle. Firms that productize judgment and pre-design strategy hold margin while production fees compress.

Percentage-of-cost was sized for the production phases AI is now compressing. Average firm profitability is 13.2% of net billings (AIA Firm Survey 2024). Developers use TestFit and Archistar to generate site plans and feasibility studies before calling an architect. The percentage holds while the hours behind it shrink.

Developers already run tools like TestFit and Archistar to generate site plans and feasibility studies before calling an architect. SWAPP and Hypar are compressing documentation timelines from months to weeks. Design-build is projected at 47% of construction spending by 2028 (FMI / DBIA 2024 Study). The compression is happening above and below the architect.

75% of architecture firms have fewer than 10 employees (AIA Firm Survey 2024). Small firms are most exposed to billings compression and least resourced to adopt AI. Larger firms have moved on production-side tools. Pre-design and post-occupancy services priced separately are still rare.

Construction documents represent 40% of total architectural fee (AIA phase allocation guidelines) and are the most automatable phase. AI is compressing the time required. Hourly and percentage-of-cost billing on that compressed work loses fee proportionally. Fixed-fee, judgment-priced offerings hold the price.